Spectacle frame side pieces



Nov. 3, 1964 H. L. THORN ETAL 3,155,763v

SPECTACLE FRAME SIDE PIECES Filed May 8, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 3,1964 H. L. THORN ErAL 3,

sazcmm FRAME sms: pmczs Filed. May 8. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UnitedStates Patent 3,155,763 SPECTACLE FRAME SIDE PIEGES Herbert L. Thorn andWalter Conway, Guildford, England, assignors to Optoplast Manufacturing(Iornpany Limited and The Trident Opticai Company Limited Filed May 8,H61, Ser. No. 108,591 (Claims priority, application Great Britain May16, 1960 1; Qlaini. (Cl. 88-53) This invention relates to side piecesfor spectacle frames.

In a spectacle frame having hinged side pieces made of a plastic it iscommon to fix one member of each hinge to the side piece by rivets thatpass completely through the side piece and so are visible on the face ofthe side piece remote from the hinge member. This is the outer face, andthe visible ends of the rivets detract from the appearance of the sidepiece, and the hinge is not always firmly held, as the rivets may workloose.

An object of this invention is to fix a side piece hinge very securelyin position.

Another object is to improve the appearance of a hinged side piece.

A further object is to provide an improved reinforced side piecerequiring fewer steps than hitherto for its manufacture.

Broadly in this invention a wire embedded in the side piece engages atleast one element projecting inwards from the hinge member to hold thatmember in position on the side piece.

It is common to reinforce a plastic side piece by a wire that extendslongitudinally in it, and in making such a reinforced side piece it isusual to push the wire longitudinally into a blank from which the sidepiece is being shaped. The invention may be applied with advantage toside pieces of this kind, since the reinforcing wire may be caused toengage the element or elements projecting from the hinge member. Whenthe reinforcing wire is thus used for two purposes, not only is thehinge member firmly held on the side piece but also the cost ofmanufacture is much reduced, since the engagement of the element orelements by the wire takes place when the wire is introduced into theside piece. Moreover, if, as is preferred, the element or elements donot extend from the hinge member to the opposite face of the side piece,the appearance of the side piece is improved.

The elements may be made separately from and fixed to the hinge memberby riveting or otherwise or be integral parts to it.

Some examples of the invention will now be described with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the preferred side piece;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged section on the line IIII in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a section on the line III--III in FIG- URE 2;

FIGURES 4 and 5 are sections corresponding to FIG- URE 2 through twoother side pieces; and

FIGURE 6 is a longitudinal section and FIGURE 7 a transverse sectionthrough another hinge and side piece.

The side piece 1 shown in FIGURE 1 is moulded from a plastic, contains alongitudinal reinforcing wire 2 and carries one member of a barrel hinge4. This member includes a plate 3 which bears on the side piece, beinglet into a recess 8 in it, and which is formed with two holes. The wire2 has a pointed leading end 5, a main length 6 of circular section and aflattened end 7. Two small plates 9, perpendicular to the plate 3, haverivet heads 10, the necks 11 of the rivets passing through holes in the"ice plate 3, so that the plates 9 are fixed to the plate 3. The plates9 are formed with holes through which the wire 2 passes and which areshaped as slots 12 to fit closely round I the flattened parts 7 withcentral circular parts 13 to allow the circular part 6 to pass freelythrough.

In manufacture a heated side-piece blank is put in the female part of atwo-part mould in a side piercing machine constructed as described inBritish Patent No. 633,201; the hinge member 3 with the plates 9 rivetedto it is held in a recess at one end of the male part of the mould; themould is closed, the plates entering the heated and softened blank inthe process and the hinge member partly entering the blank; and whilethe moulded blank is still soft during cooling, the wire 2 is pushedinto it, the end 5 entering as shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 2. Duringthis step the holes in the plates 9 act as guides for the wire, thusfacilitating the accurate location of the wire in the side piece. Thisis an advantage, and another is that the wire is not weakened, as it isby drilling the holes necessary for riveting.

In the construction shown in FIGURE 4, the end 14 of a hinge plate 3 isturned at right angles as a flange and formed with a hole through whichthe wire 2 passes.

In the construction shown in FIGURE 5 the hinge member is essentiallyonly the barrel part 15 and a plate 16 extends into the side piece 2from it to form the ele ment formed with a hole through which the wire 2passes.

In the modified construction shown in FIGURES 6 and 7 a wire 17 separatefrom the reinforcing wire 2 and transverse to the side piece is used toengage two plates 18 fixed to and perpendicular to the hinge plate 3.These plates 18 extend parallel to the centre line of the side piece andthe wire 2, instead of transversely to it, and have holes 19 throughwhich the wire 17 passes at right angles to the wire 2. This gives avery rigid construction at the expense of involving an additional step,namely the push-' ing of the wire 17 into position after the wire 2 hasbeen pushed. I

The wire 17 is introduced from the underside of the side piece so thatits exposed end is not normally seen.

When a wire such as 17 is used, the side piece need not of coursecontain any reinforcing wire at all.

Although it is preferred to make the fixing wire 2 or 17 pass through ahole in the element or each element, other means of engagement may beused: for example the wire may pass through a groove or open slot in oneof the edges of the element and will still hold the hinge member firmly.

We claim:

In combination, a spectacle-frame side piece made of a plastic, a hingemember including a first plate bearing on the side piece, two furtherplates parallel to one an-,

other, both perpendicular to said first plate, both fixed to said firstplate, both apertured and both extending transversely into said sidepiece, and a longitudinal wire embedded in the side piece and passingthrough the apertures in said further plates to hold the hinge member inposition on the side piece.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

